Total number of winners 3468. It has been steadly harder to win, In Civil War they issued 1522. In WW2 - 464, Korea - 133, Vietnam -246 and between the Iraq and Afgan War …so far only 6 have been issued and of the six all died in the action that resulted in the award. This number may be different now as these numbers are from 2013.

It is the Medal of Honor that is presented to a person, regardless if they are alive or dead for acts of Bravery, Heroism, and Valor. As with so much other USA symb…olism, the 13 stars on the Medal of Honor represent the original 13 colonies that first formed the USA.